Hemingwrite

Connected WiFi Typewriter

For many writers, the personal computer is less a blessing than a curse. While spellcheck, control-Z and revision history may seem like indispensable tools, a computer with an Internet connection is not so much a technological tabula rasa as an inexhaustible distraction machine. But there is, at long last, a way to get all the benefits of digital wordsmithing while retaining the simplicity of the typewriter.

Hemingwrite is the quintessential twenty-first century writer’s tool. Keyboard nerds will rejoice in the tactile feel and clickety-clack sound of the mechanical keyboard, which in the first version at least will be made with Cherry MX Brown switches. The typewriter-shaped aluminum housing also features a 6-inch e-ink display suitable for writing in direct sunlight and several analog toggles for switching between projects and stat displays (word count, time spent writing, etc.).

It’s portable, running on a USB-rechargeable battery for weeks at a time, and has enough internal storage for more than a million pages of text.

There is a Wi-Fi connection, but it’s limited to a single function: syncing your drafts to the cloud for later editing in Evernote, Google Docs or other word processors. With no Internet browser or other apps vying for attention, Hemingwrite provides digital conveniences while keeping you focused on writing. As the creators put it, “The Hemingwrite is designed for one thing and one thing only: putting words on a page.”Connected WiFi Typewriter: Hemingwrite

Hemingwrite wrapped up a successful Kickstarter last week and should begin shipping in August.